Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

There were no declarations of interests made by Members.

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

There were no deputations received.

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the meetings of the General Purposes Committee held on:

4.1       15 October 2018; and

4.2       31 October 2018.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the following meetings be approved as an accurate record.

4.1    Monday 15 October 2018; and

4.2    Wednesday 31 October 2018

To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

There were no matters arising.

To receive a report from the Head of Paid Service seeking approval to severance payments, in accordance with the Council’s Voluntary Redundancy Scheme.

The report also provides an update on the outcome of the Council’s Voluntary Redundancy Scheme run during August and September 2018.

Debra Norman (Head of Legal and HR) introduced the report, which members were advised was seeking approval to a number of specific severance payments, in accordance with the Council’s Voluntary Redundancy Scheme along with a separate severance payment arising as a result of a restructure.

Members noted the background to the establishment of the Voluntary Redundancy Scheme, as set out in section 3 of the report and the process under which applications received under the scheme had been assessed.  This had involved consideration of a business case in relation to each application assessed against not only financial implications but also the business needs and efficiency of the service.

In terms of the overall scheme, Members noted:

·                that a total of 82 applications had been approved with an additional 12 (as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report) being recommended for approval by General Purposes Committee in view of the Council’s Pay Policy Statement under the Localism Act 2011 requiring the approval of any termination payments (including the pension strain) exceeding £100k by Full Council or an appropriate Committee of the Council;

·                In terms of those applications approved, 75 had been confirmed as accepted, six had been withdrawn and one applicant had left the Council for other reasons;

·                The termination payments in excess of £100k being recommended for approval within Appendix 1 of the report did not all relate to the highest earners with the nature of payments in many cases reflecting length of service and age;

·                The financial implications arising from the proposals, as detailed in section 4 of the report.  The business case for each proposal had been based on a benchmark period of not more than two years for the cost of the redundancy to be offset by consequent savings to the Council (net any saving reinvested as part of a restructure).  The overall payback period of the total termination payments was expected to be approximately 1.6 years.  As a result of the scheme it had also been possible to identify approximately £0.6m of additional savings;

·                The diversity implications and equality impact assessment undertaken in respect of the scheme, as detailed within section 5 and Appendix 3 of the report.  Whilst the assessment had identified that the application of a two year payback period to individual redundancy applications would impact on those aged 55 years and over and this was likely to be materially justified by the policy objective of contributing to the Council’s savings requirement and to the avoidance/minimising of compulsory redundancies, applying the benchmark to the scheme as a whole avoided this impact.

In addition to the severance payments being recommended in relation to the Voluntary Redundancy Scheme, Members also noted the proposal for an additional payment arising from a restructure which totalled in excess of £100k.  Further detail had been provided in Appendix 2 of the report which had been identified as containing exempt information under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (Para 1 – information relating to an individual).  As Members indicated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider any appointments needing to be made in relation to General Purposes Sub Committees.

Members are asked to note that details of the appointments to be considered will published in advance of the meeting.

RESOLVED to approve the following changes in appointments on General Purposes Sub Committees:

PENSION bOARD

(1)     Councillor Kabir to replace Councillor Perrin as a full member of the Pension Board

(2)     Councillor R.Patel to replace Councillor Aden and Councillor Marquis to replace Councillor Choudhary as substitute members of the Pension Board.

Membership of the Pension Board was therefore confirmed as:

DAVID EWART (C)                           INDEPENDENT CHAIR

CRANE                                                            LABOUR

kabir                                                  LABOUR

SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS:

LABOUR:MARQUIS, R.PATEL

brent pension fund sub-committee

In view of the changes agreed to membership of the Pension Board, General Purposes Committee also noted that membership of the Brent Pension Fund Sub Committee would remain as follows:

choudhary (C)                                          LABOUR

aden (VC)                                                      LABOUR

DALY                                                                LABOUR

Lo                                                                     LABOUR

Maurice                                                        CONSERVATIVE

perrin                                                           LABOUR

Stephens                                                   LABOUR

Co-Opted non-voting:

FRANCESCA HAMMOND              (UNISON)

SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS:

LABOUR:choudry, kabir, mcleish, naheerathan

CONSERVATIVE: colwill, kansagra

The following item is not for publication as it relates to the following category of exempt information as specified under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, namely Para 1. “Information relating to any individual.:

·                Item 6: Severance Approvals (Appendix 2)

Not required.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

None.